Shyamalan speaks about The Last Airbender

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Recently, M. Night Shyamalan, the director for the upcoming film adaptation The Last Airbender, was spoken to by "Hero Complex", part of the entertainment section of the Los Angeles Times, for an "update" on "that other 'Avatar' movie". In the interview, Shyamalan spoke of several details including the reasons why he took on the project, and compares The Last Airbender to other spiritually rich films such as The Matrix and Star Wars.

Shyamalan said that his family had an influence in his decision to undertake the project. Reaffirming information from previous interviews, it was his daughter who wanted to watch. "She made us watch as a family and all four of us were hooked." Shyamalan however goes on to reveal that his wife had second thoughts about Shyamalan's career, but was adamant that Airbender would be a success. "I was like, 'This would make a killer movie. And my wife who really has been kind of in neutral about my career was insane about it. Insane about it: ‘You have to do it. This is it. This is the one.'"

Another reason Shyamalan agreed to film an adaptation, something he had never done before, was the Buddhist philosophy underlying Avatar. "Aang himself needs to find balance to be the Avatar and to master each of these elements," the director said. "We get to see the process of someone mastering themselves through the three seasons to get to peace." He then mentions that The Matrix and Star Wars have similar spiritual motifs. "In the first 'Matrix,' you realize that what you’re seeing is all false. Those are really ancient ideas. Basic old, old religion. This has that as well. So if you go on the journey and you’ll feel that epiphany on top of a great roller-coaster ride. It’s going to be something."

In other news

Some may have noticed the last image addition to our article on the film adaptation. Yes, that is indeed the newly revealed International Poster for The Last Airbender. It is a combination of the two previous posters, one blue and featuring Aang, and one orange and featuring Zuko. Photoshoppers now have more material to work with.

People Magazine ran a piece on Nicola Peltz (article link), the actor for Katara, recently. She has won praise from Shyamalan, who has said, "I told the studio I didn't want to make this movie without her. I said that only once before in my career, and that was when I met Haley [Joel Osment] in the Sixth Sense auditions." Read more...

And finally, as previously mentioned here, the long awaited theatrical trailer, delayed from December, will begin showing on February 12, attached to Percy Jackson.